ROYAL PALACE OF CASERTA, Throne Room

Start listening from the Hall of Halberdiers.

Just like those who sought an audience with the king in the 19th century, today you have to pass no less than five antechambers before you can enter the huge Throne Room.

Of these five rooms, the first three were designed and built by the architect Vanvitelli. You will visit the rooms in this order: first, the Hall of the Halberdiers, with marble busts of the queens of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; the Hall of the Guards, with an imposing statue of Alexander Farnese, of whom King Charles III of Bourbon was a descendant, dressed as a Roman condottiere; and the Hall of Alexander, dedicated to Alexander the Great, with the ceiling vault frescoed with the scene of the marriage between the Macedonian leader and Roxane.

Enjoy the wonders of these first three antechambers and restart when you enter the fourth Hall of Astrea.

The first three rooms, built according to the taste of the Bourbon family, are followed by the two others in neoclassical style, designed according to the wishes of Gioachino Murat, brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. These are the Hall of Astrea, which takes its name from the ceiling fresco depicting the triumph of the goddess of Justice, and the subsequent Hall of Mars, with the large alabaster cup, bestowed by Pope Pius IX as a sign of gratitude for the hospitality granted to him during his exile from Rome.

Now pause and restart when you reach the Throne Room.

The Throne Room is the largest room in the entire palace, 40 meters long and 15 meters high. It took more than thirty years to complete, from when Gioachino Murat had work started in 1811, to when it was finished in 1845. Meanwhile, the Bourbons had returned to power under Ferdinand II.

Look at this triumph of gilded stucco, what magnificence! Admire the large vault fresco depicting The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Palace on 20 January 1752.

In this context, perhaps the throne, so small and seemingly simple, might seem a little inadequate. But if you get closer, you can see how finely carved it is, with two lions, a symbol of the House of Bourbon, two cornucopias, an omen of abundance, and two mermaids, recalling the myth of the siren Partenope, from whom the city of Naples was born.

Here's an interesting fact: the day chosen for the laying of the foundation stone of the Royal Palace of Caserta was the thirty-sixth birthday of King Charles of Bourbon, who had a sumptuous ceremony organized for the occasion, as you can see from the scene depicted in the fresco.